It's Time (For a Contest)
by Lovely SOS
Summary: When Ian blows up at Jonah about his annoying music, Jonah shrugs it off, knowing Ian doesn't know a thing about music 'cause he's a Lucian. Ian thinks otherwise. The pair decides to each perform one song, with a crowd of Cahills judging. Will Jonah, music superstar, win, or will the underdog Ian win with his surprising song choice? Plus, Ian looks at Amy during his performance...
1. Contest

**~The Contest-Contest~**

**{CONTEST NOW CLOSED}**

**(Happy Valentine's Day! This is your present!)**

After pondering long and hard about what exactly to do as a contest, (which a bunch of you guys really wanted me to make) I thought to myself, "Why not have a contest where my fellow authors have to stick the Cahills into a situation where there is a contest of some sort?" (Because yes, that's the kind of person I am... Anyway.)

I hope you will enjoy and participate! (And also, I promise to review every entry!)

**Rules~**

_The Storyline:_ The storyline of your entry must have to be a situation in which there is a **contest** or a** bet** going on between two or more Cahills. Feel free to get as original as you wish! As you'll see here in my one-shot below, which also serves as an example, I chose to do a story about Jonah and Ian having a bet. You can go anywhere you like with this, but it must be a bet or contest between Cahills.

_The Characters:_ You can do any characters you like, there is no requirement for this except that I really prefer if you stick to book characters and do not have any original characters. (Unless they serve a minor roll in the story.)

_The Rating:_ The rating of your story can be anywhere between K and T+. Please no M fics, as I am not so fond of reading those.

_The Length:_ Only one-shots will be accepted. However, the one-shots actual length is up to you, though I'd prefer for it not to be like, the length of a novel. Thanks. (I'd consider around 7,000 words to be pretty long.)

_The Genre:_ (Type of story) The genre can be anything. As seen here, this is a Humor/Romance genre, but you may choose to do any type of story you wish.

_Submitting your story:_ To submit your story, just PM me with the title of it. Also, **please include** either in your A/N or summary that this is your submission to my contest.

**The winner~**

The winner will receive a one-shot from me. It will be dedicated to them, and they will pick the characters, genre, rating, (though I seriously refuse to write M, sorry) and even some of the plot, if they so wish it.

**Deadline and winner announcement~**

The deadline for your story will be **2/28/13**. However, I am understanding, so don't sweat it if the deadline is upon you and you need a day or two more xD However, please try your best to get your story done by then, and if you really do need a time extend, you MUST PM me.

The winner will be announced here on **3/7/13**. The winner's name will be announced through an update to this story, so I suggest you PUT IT ON ALERTS. With the winner's name, I will have a brief epilogue to my one-shot. I will also PM the winner letting them know they have won. (If they cannot be reached through PM, I literally will just review one of their stories xD)

**Otherwise:**

If you have any questions, go right ahead and ask me through a review or a PM. If I missed anything here, just tell me and I'll add it on.

Good luck, and enjoy my one-shot!

_Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues. In fact, I hardly own anything. I mean I think there might be like, one dollar in my pocket right now...? Oh, and I don't own 'It's Time', which is by Imagine Dragons- but the song is only mentioned here, since posting lyrics is against the rules. *sigh of utter annoyance*_

_Now read, and review, please, too :D_

_**~It's Time (For a Contest)~**_

1.

Ian Kabra couldn't stand it anymore.

"Can you PLEASE turn down that SOUND you call MUSIC?!" He yelled from where he sat. He was in the Cahill house, playing chess with his sister Natalie. Across the room sat famous pop-star Jonah Wizard, and his little cousin, Phoenix Wizard. The two of them- well, Jonah, mostly- were playing a CD of Jonah's on the living room stereo.

_Way_ too loudly.

"Check mate," Natalie said, almost yelling over the loud decibel of the music. Ugh! Ian thought, incredibly annoyed. His game had been completely thrown off by those bonehead Wizards! (Who hadn't bothered to abide to his polite asking of them to turn down the music.)

"That's it," Ian growled. He stood up and walked across the room to were Jonah and Phoenix sat- and he turned off the stereo himself. Jonah, who had been swinging his head and muttering the lyrics to his own song, frowned. His eyes, which had been closed before, now fluttered open.

"Hey, what was that for?" Jonah complained. "NOT cool to turn off my music, bro."

Ian was kind of surprised with his decision, but he had, indeed, decided that Jonah was the worst Cahill of them all. Even worse than any of those Holt Dolts.

"I am _not_ your 'bro'. And I asked you to turn your volume down, oh, I don't know- 14 times?" Ian hissed pointedly. "You made me lose my chess game!"

Across the room, Natalie snickered. "Yes, brother, that's why you lost," she said, amused. Ian rolled his eyes, fed up with his so-called 'family'. He really wished that Fiske Cahill hadn't decided to have an all-branches get-together at least every other month. It was absurd, and Ian was much too busy for them. Plus, whenever he went, things like THIS happened.

Sometimes he really couldn't stand the people he was distantly related to.

Jonah rolled his eyes. "Well, sorry. But if you ask me, I'd say I was doing you a favor. You really need to listen to the lyrics of my songs- especially last years platinum-selling record, 'Chill Out'." Jonah flashed his million-dollar grin, only annoying Ian more. Do you think you just said something SMART? Ian felt like yelling. But instead, he said,

"I can promise you I will never listen to you rapping." He said spitefully, and he paused before continuing. "I don't even understand why you ever got famous in the first place!"

Maybe that sounded a little rude, but Ian didn't really care. Whenever Jonah was around, all Ian could think was, And people think I'M cocky?

For one thing, it annoyed Ian that Jonah was richer than him after the clue hunt. Jonah Wizard had millions of dollars to go along with his millions of annoying fans and annoying songs. Yes, that was the other thing- just like only moments ago, Jonah was always playing some obnoxious music out loud, and whether it be his own or some other artists, it was always _annoying_.

Jonah took Ian's comment quite seriously. Rising off of the couch he'd been sitting on, he glared at Ian, coming up close to his face. "Did you just say you don't think I deserve to be famous?" He asked, eyes narrowed and tone dead-serious. Behind Jonah, Phoenix Wizard rolled his eyes and stood up, crossing the room to sit with Natalie at the chess board. Ian heard him say,

"Wanna play a round while they fight for the millionth time?"

And Natalie's bored response of,

"Sure."

"I did." Ian told Jonah, crossing his arms. "I DID say you don't deserve to be famous. I hardly consider what you do to be making actual music." Ian didn't break his stare with Jonah, fully intending to get it through 'The Wiz's skull that he was a completely moronic.

"Like you know anything about music!" Jonah yelled back, looking annoyed. Ian smirked. Jonah was way too sensitive when it came to music... Jonah frowned. "I mean, you don't know _anything_ about music, man. You're a Lucian, and everyone knows that with Janus is where it's at."

Ian rolled his eyes. "Being a Lucian doesn't mean I don't know anything about music. I _happen_ to play the guitar." Oops. As soon as he'd said it, Ian wished he could stuff those words back into his mouth. He didn't normally slip up and say something kind of personal about himself like that, but he was so sick of Jonah and his obnoxious 'beats'.

Jonah laughed, looking back on track with his cockiness. "Right," Jonah grinned, amused. "And Amy wants to date you."

"Hey!" Ian yelled. He gritted his teeth. Amy was his soft spot. It was completely uncalled for for Jonah to drag her into this. "Don't joke about that..." He grumbled. Seeing the look on Ian's face, Jonah burst out laughing. Ian knew that Phoenix and Natalie were watching from across the room now, actually paying attention since things were heating up. I can't be shown up by JONAH, Ian thought disgustedly. So aloud he said, stabbing a finger against Jonah's chest, "I could beat you."

Jonah stopped laughing, fixing his gaze on Ian. His eyes shone, and it seemed to Ian that Jonah liked the idea of a challenge. "Beat me at what?" He asked.

"A competition." Ian responded. "A music competition. We each perform one song, and the other Cahills decide the winner. I mean it. I can beat you." Ian said. Jonah looked surprised at this, but he recovered quickly.

"You're on." He said. "We each perform an original song tomorrow night, 6:00 PM." He held out his hand for Ian to shake. Ian almost shook it, but he stopped dead for a moment, hesitating.

"I can't do an original song." He admitted.

Jonah laughed. Man, his laugh is annoying, Ian thought, only growing more irritated. He really wanted to show Jonah up... But he was starting to think that he should have kept his mouth shut after all. "Fine, we each do songs by another artist." Jonah declared. "Since I know you can't write music anyway."

Ian felt like retorting that he could and even that he did, but he said no such thing. He had already let it slip that he played guitar, and now all of the Cahills were going to know- as well as see him singing. Ian was not about to make another mistake in telling Jonah that he wrote his own music sometimes, too. Besides, most of his songs weren't that great, and he'd actually rather be burned at stake than let anyone else hear them.

Especially his extended family, the Cahills.

And especially because the only good song he'd ever written was about Amy.

Yeah- he'd rather die than let anyone hear that.

So Ian shook Jonah's hand. Grinning, Jonah saluted Ian and waltzed out of the room, calling, "Prepare to go down, Cobra!" It was super annoying that Jonah had taken up Dan Cahill's name for the Kabras. Turning away from the direction Jonah had left in and turning back to Natalie and Phoenix, he found the two of them staring at him.

"WHY were you stupid enough to actually come up with that?" Natalie asked, standing up. She tapped her foot, an eyebrow raised as she regarded Ian as if he were a dumb animal. Phoenix stood up, too.

"Jonah is obnoxious." Ian replied, scoffing slightly. "I'm sick of him thinking his music is actually good."

Natalie sighed, making her way across the room to meet Ian. Phoenix followed her, shaking his head. "I don't think that was such a good idea," Phoenix shared. Natalie nodded along with him, obviously agreeing.

"He's right. Jonah may be an idiot, but he _is_ a Janus. And he knows how to put on a show, even if most of us ARE sick of him." Natalie said. She paused a moment before adding encouragingly, "I think you just lost." Ian rolled his eyes at her words and at Phoenix's.

"Well SORRY!" Ian snapped. "I was just trying to get some peace and quiet! You should be thanking me for my effort!"

Natalie rolled her eyes at her dramatic brother. "Just go pick some song and practice it, Ian. And... Don't stop practicing util tomorrow night."

* * *

Show time.

Ian hated it, but he was nervous.

He stood behind the curtain to the makeshift stage; he was outside, and it was nearly 6:00 PM, the day after he'd made a bet with Jonah to see what the other Cahills considered real music...

The other Cahills had responded with incredible enthusiasm to this little competition between Jonah Wizard and Ian Kabra. Word of it had spread like wildfire after Natalie had sent out a mass text. Ian felt like half the people he knew were waiting there behind the curtain, some Cahills even flying in just for this event. It must seem crazy, Ian admitted to himself. I don't seem like the... _Musical_ type.

Ian was waiting for Jonah. He figured that they'd both want to sit and watch each other perform (well, Ian didn't really want to watch Jonah, but whatever), but he wanted to ask Jonah who should go first.

Nerves were making Ian's heart rate speed up. He really did hate feeling this way.

Ian peeked past the curtain, wondering where the heck Jonah was. While Ian was looking, he saw Amy walk past, probably on her way to sit down. For some reason, seeing her immediately made him feel more relaxed. But she was walking away from him. Before he even knew what he was doing, he whisper-hissed her name.

"Amy!"

Looking like a startled deer, Amy turned around to see where Ian's voice was coming from.

"Ian?" She said, confused. She stepped up onto the side of the makeshift stage, and Ian grabbed her arm, pulling her behind the curtain.

"Amy, where are you going to sit?" Ian asked, his tone slightly demanding. Amy shot him a look that Ian though meant she was wondering if he was crazy. He did probably seem crazy, pulling her behind the curtain and asking her a bizarre question concerning where she'd been planning on sitting... But he had his reasons.

Amy peeked out behind the curtain, and Ian followed her example. "I was just going to sit next to Nellie," she said. A few people in the crowd saw them and waved, looking excited. Amy waved back, but Ian ignored them, his eyes scanning the seats for Nellie. When he finally saw her, she was about 5 rows back in the sets of collapsible chairs. Frowning, Ian fell away from the curtain. "Why do you ask?" Amy questioned him, stepping away as well.

The idea that she might sit somewhere that he couldn't see her felt unthinkable for some reason. He needed to be able to see her- he couldn't do this otherwise. He needed a safe place to look while he was on stage.

"Can you sit in the front row?" He said, his voice hurried and clipped. He checked his watch; 2 minutes until 6:00. Where was Jonah? The show was supposed to start...

Amy looked confused. "Why?"

Ian rolled his eyes at her. "Just do it, please." He said, and his eyes softened when he looked at her. Amy's eyes were so... Beautiful. He realized he was staring and he cleared his throat, looking away and adding another, "Please."

"Okay, Ian. I'll sit in the front row." Amy said, clearly mystified. She turned away from him, but she stopped to add, "Good luck!"

Ian nodded at her, and she disappeared behind the curtain.

He felt much more at ease now, but nervousness was still gnawing at the walls of his stomach. He regretted agreeing to this quite a bit. Suddenly, lights flooded the stage, and Ian heard Natalie's voice. Ian rolled his eyes. Of course his sister was acting as an announcer- she'd take any chance to be in any spotlight.

"Welcome, Cahills, to the musical battle between pop-star Jonah Wizard, and my annoying brother, Ian Kabra!" There was a lot of cheering at that, particularly from Dan Cahill. Natalie went on in her smooth British accent. "Each boy will perform one song, but be sure to hold your applause until the end, when you, the crowd, will be picking the winner."

Ian felt someone poke his shoulder and realized that it was Jonah (finally), showing up fashionably late. Jonah was wearing a gold chain around his neck and he grinned at Ian, whispering, "I told your sister I'd go first."

"Fine," Ian responded, secretly extremely glad not to have to go first.

Ian heard Natalie's voice again. "Now please watch and welcome you first performer, Jonah Wizard!"

Jonah smirked at Ian before slipping behind the curtain, whispering, "Prepare to be shown up." When The Wiz stepped onstage, he was met with applause.

Jonah's comment reminded Ian of why he'd agreed to this in the first place. I'll put that Wizard in his place, Ian thought, trying to muster confidence. He plucked his guitar off of a stand where he'd put it earlier, and he made sure it was tuned, more just for something to do than it actually needing tuning.

Onstage, Ian began his obnoxious number. It was some rap song, which meant of course Ian wasn't familiar with it, and the applause had been so loud when Jonah had stepped onstage that Ian hadn't heard Jonah say the title. Ian listened carefully to what he was up against.

As annoying as Jonah was most of the time, Ian grudgingly had to admit that Jonah really did put on a good show. Unlike a lot of rappers, his words were smooth and understandable. He was always on-beat, and whenever Ian glanced behind the curtain, Jonah was dancing along to the music. And he was good.

Ian felt nerves clawing at his stomach _again_, and for a moment, he really wasn't certain that he could do this. But he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment as onstage, Jonah's song finished much too soon. The crowd began to clap but Ian watched as Natalie stepped onto the stage and held up a hand, silencing them. Jonah stepped offstage, looking extremely pleased with his performance. He sat down in the crowd.

"Hold your applause," Natalie said, irritation in her tone, "-until the end. Thank you. Now, we unfortunately must welcome onto the stage, my brother, Ian Kabra."

Taking a final deep breath, Ian grabbed his guitar and stepped onto the stage. There was some applause, but mostly people just looked like they thought this was going to end very badly... Though Ian was relieved to see Amy clapping politely from the front row. She shot him a smile and he felt like his legs were made of jelly.

He was disgusted at his own nerves.

Ian carefully set his guitar down and jogged back offstage, realizing he needed to bring out his chair. He did, and he unfolded it in the center of the stage. The metal in the chair made an awful, awkward squeak noise, and Ian flinched. But he picked his guitar up a second time, and, finding his voice, he said, "I'm going to be singing 'It's Time'."

And he began to strum.

He started off slowly, his eyes trained on his guitar while he played his intro. He picked up speed slightly, but as it was just him playing, this would be a rather acoustic version of the song. Taking a deep breath as he reached the first verse, he looked up into the crowd and his eyes connected with Amy's, and he began to sing.

Ian's voice was surprisingly clear as he sang. He had chosen this song for a reason- because it meant something to him. He could relate to the words. It felt natural to sing them...

Whenever he heard the song, it always reminded him of his journey so far in life- going from being his mother's son and going through the clue hunt, to where he was now and _who_ he was now.

His gaze was held on Amy, and he felt his nerves slipping away. All that was left was himself, his song and what it meant to him- and her.

Some parts of the song did remind him of her a little bit. If there was one person in his life he didn't want to let down, it was Amy. Sometimes he really did wish he could stay here in Attleboro, if only to be closer to her.

Ian played a little louder as he flowed into the chorus, time ticking by quickly when he was so stuck as a captive under her green-eyed gaze.

When he met the chorus of the song, he sang out strongly, with a hint of defiance in his voice. The lyrics... He felt like it just covered so many different aspects of his life. The chorus in particular made him feel a connection to the song- he felt like the chorus of the song was saying that even where he was in his life now, he was still Ian. He was still himself- he still had a lot of dignity and a lot of pride.

He felt like the song covered the kind of life he'd walked away from, but also the kind of life he was living now- and that he was still partly the same person that he used to be. He could not change himself completely. He was still Ian Kabra, and he would always _be_ Ian Kabra.

His voice quieted down a bit when he broke off into the second verse.

Some of the lines in the song really hit home to Ian- he could feel the emotion in his own voice as he sang, and he almost imagined he was singing those lines to Isabel.

But Ian was still focused on Amy- Amy, and her beautiful green eyes. He could feel the crowd reacting to his performance, though, too- he had gripped them, and they were captivated in the story he was telling.

Ian repeated the chorus of the song and he knew know that he had the crowd hanging on to his words, wanting to know what kind of trick he'd pull next, he figured. But there was no trick- he simply sang with real emotion, and as the song went on, that became more and more true. Ian was not the greatest singer in the world, or anything, though he didn't think he was bad. He figured he'd just enchanted his audience with his surprising ability to tell a tale through the notes of the song and the strings of his guitar.

And they'd been expecting him to suck.

Oops- he was paying attention to the crowd a little bit too much. His eyes met Amy's again, and just like that, he relaxed, truly believing that where she sat was a safe place to rest his eyes. He finished what he'd been strumming- the bridge of the song.

Amy looked like she was holding her breath, her eyes wide as she watched him sing. I'm almost done, Ian thought desperately. I'm _so_ close to finishing the song...

His strumming began to slow down a little bit and soften as he sank into the final repeat of the chorus. Though his guitar-playing became not quite as loud, his voice was steady and loud as he sang, all the way up until the very last line, which he sang softly.

He finished.

Ian let out a loose, shaky breath, and he placed his guitar down carefully and stood to face the crowd. He'd done it- he'd sang a song in front of a crowd of Cahills. And they had seemed so captivated... But now, looking into the crowd, all he could see were utterly shocked faces staring back at him. Not one person tried to clap- from the front row, Amy was staring more than anyone, her eyes wide in that surprised, deer-in-the-headlights look that she so often wore.

Natalie and Jonah stepped back up onto the stage. Jonah, too, was staring at Ian- Natalie seemed to be the only one unaffected, and was quite pleased to regain her spotlight.

"Okay, Cahills." Natalie said enthusiastically, breaking into the silence. "Time to choose your winner!"

**~To be Continued~**

_Tune in here on _**3/7/13**_ to see the contest winner and the epilogue of the one-shot. Thanks for entering/reading, and remember, feel free to ask me if you have any questions._

_~Lovely_


	2. Winner

**~Contest-Contest Winner~**

Hey everyone!

Before I announce the winner, I do want to thank all of you that entered. This was my first time hosting a contest for realz, so the experience was really cool and I enjoyed writing my 'example' here for it. I also super enjoyed reading all the entries- it was REALLY hard to pick a winner because there were so many good ones and they were all different and awesome. And I really do mean that. Everyone was so close in their placements, separated by, like, hairs.

But I'm blabbing. So. Drum roll, please-

The **WINNER** is** poptropica.1997**, with her story, Unrequited Love!

Congrats on your win!

poptropica.1997, I chose your story as the winner because I had the best time reading it. It was hilarious, well-written, in-character, and... hilarious. I particularly loved the portrayal of Dan- I couldn't stop laughing for like 10 minutes. If you haven't read poptropica.1997's story, please go do that- it's worth your time! poptropica.1997, I will contact you via PM about your 'fabulous' prize- a one-shot from me to you! :D

The **other** amazing story entrants and their placements:

2nd place: Arctic Plunges, by Amber Cahill (Really, really, REALLY close runner up. EXCELLENTLY written, wonderfully in-character. Amazing job, and I loved the bet!)  
3rd place: Insanity's Love for Entertainment, by MrsJoshHutcherson112 (Hilarious and well-written! :D All of the different bets going on were GREAT, especially going well with the theme of the contest!)  
4th place: Poisonous, by The Gone Angel vs Slenderman (The hard work that I know was put into this story paid off- it's really good and I enjoyed all of it, especially the Mario Kart part xD Funny!)  
5th place: Talent Show, Cahill Addition, by Aafubbaia (Great job, and I must admit, I'm a sucker for those good old talent show fics :))  
6th place: The Bet of a Matchmaker, by addicted2reading9 (This is adorable and I love it. Lol)

Thanks to all who entered! I highly suggest that if you haven't, you should go read these stories!

_**~Epilogue~**_

2.

Ian's palms were sweating, the stage lights hitting him in the face. I can't lose, he thought to himself. I can't... Ian wasn't used to losing. And he didn't ever _want_ to be used to losing.

In all honesty, Ian and Jonah hadn't even decided on a prize for the winner and the loser of their little contest. But they didn't need to- it would be prize enough for the winner to have earned themselves that title, and Ian was certain that if Jonah won, the rap superstar would never let that go. Though, if Ian won, he'd be just as likely to hold it over Jonah's head, too. For pretty much eternity.

Still.

Amy was still in the front row watching. I'm going to lose in front of her, Ian thought sourly.

"Alright!" Natalie said. "Put your hands together if you think Jonah is your winner!" At her words, the roar was almost deafening. Ian's heart dropped inside of his chest. I shouldn't have made that bet, he thought bitterly, but there was nothing he could do now. Natalie cut the crowd off. "Calm down," she said, rolling her eyes. "Now. Clap if you think Ian is your winner!"

Ian rolled his eyes at Natalie's game show host impression. She loved the spotlight a little too much...

Then Ian realized that people were actually cheering.

Ian had known during his performance that everyone had seemed captivated. But he hadn't anticipated this roar, this sea of people joining their voices together and clapping madly. For him. (Well, and there was a little booing from Dan Cahill, but Ian didn't care.) He found himself grinning, and Jonah looked at him in shock, surprised that Ian was getting such a positive reaction.

But realization made Ian's heart sink down further into his chest. Yes, people were cheering for him- but Jonah's fans had been louder.

"Your winner!" Natalie presented, gesturing towards Jonah. Ian felt hate bubble up inside of him as Jonah's surprised look was replaced with one of triumph. The crowd was loud and louder, but not loud enough, because Ian heard Jonah say, his perfect teeth flashing,

"I told you, cuz- Janus is where it's at!"

Disgusted, Ian stormed off the stage, embarrassment flooding through his veins. I hate this, he thought angrily, tearing past a few stray people who had stood up already to congratulate their winner. There were a few things that Ian Kabra didn't cope with so well- and losing was near the top of the list.

He hated that he'd agreed to a bet like that. He hated that he'd done so and then been such a disgrace as to actually _lose._

"Ian!"

Ian heard his name and froze; then he turned around, seeing Amy flying after him, her hair bouncing as she sped up to him. He realized that he'd put a good distance between himself and the makeshift stage now in his haste to... er, get away from that place. He couldn't take Jonah gloating, so he'd gotten out of there before The Wiz could really start.

Amy reached him, panting slightly.

Ian sighed, crossing his arms. "What?" He asked her pointedly. "Are you here to tell me that you're team Janus, and that you're glad I've lost?" Ian knew what he was saying was irrational towards Amy, but bitterness was in his tone as the words slipped out, anyway. Amy's eyes widened.

"No!" She said quickly. "I clapped much harder for you, anyway." She muttered, her cheeks turning slightly pink. That almost prompted a smile from Ian, but in the end, it didn't. He sighed again, and Amy added quickly, "I just saw you leave so fast... are you okay?" Concern flashed in her eyes. Her eyes that he'd so admired for such a long time.

Ian turned away from her, feeling indigent. "I'm NOT fine," he grumbled with narrowed eyes. "Jonah is never going to let this go..." He paused, then before he knew what he was saying, the words slipped out of his mouth; "I really cannot believe I lost. Especially in front of you."

Amy frowned, stepping a little closer to him, looking slightly confuse. "Ian, you did a really good job." She said, and her cheeks lit up pink again. "Really."

Ian turned towards her, and he was close enough that even though it was fairly dark out now, the sun almost all the way down, Ian could see the colors of her eyes vividly- that jade color. The green seemed to get darker outwards and lighter inwards, and the colors shined, like they were trying to pull him into their depths. "Is that so?" He murmured.

"Uhm," Amy mumbled. "Y-yes." She turned away from him slightly, out of shyness, he assumed, though she did not step away. "I didn't know you could play the guitar," she confessed. "Or sing like that." She still wasn't looking at him. "Don't you need to have callouses on your hands though?" Amy questioned softly, her gaze finally lingering over his again. "To play the guitar?"

Ian smiled, the feeling of losing completely dissipating now with Amy here, distracting him from that fact. He showed her the palm of his hand, his fingers played outwards. "I do have callouses," he replied. "I play a lot more than anyone might guess."

Amy nodded, leaning forward slightly to inspect his fingers. Ian felt a laugh rising up in his chest as she did so; she was comically cute in her awkwardness, actually bending to look. He moved quickly and slipped his hand over hers- she looked startled at his action, her eyes wide again, his fingers looping over hers...

I'm going to kiss her, he decided.

He leaned forward, and while he did, he was incredibly aware of how exposed he had become in such a short time. It would now be well known that Ian Kabra could play the guitar- that he could sing. And he'd lost, which was a relatively new thing to him. And now here he was, breaking the last bit of distance between himself and Amy Cahill, fully intending to kiss her- and as he thought that, their lips met, and his moment of weakness didn't matter to him anymore.

Any final bitterness at losing the contest with Jonah slipped away from Ian, and for a moment, all that existed was her- Amy. There was no embarrassment, there was no losing. There was only Amy Cahill, and the warmth spreading through him at the feeling of kissing her. One hand was still over hers, and the other moved to pull her closer. Immense satisfaction shot through his veins when he felt her kissing him back.

He was grinning now, into the kiss- but he broke off slightly, still smiling. He would have kissed her longer, but he wanted to see her eyes, to know what she might be thinking now. His own face was close to hers, and her face was so pink he imagined he could feel the heat of her embarrassment there. He was smiling- glad he'd sung that song that had resulted in this. She was smiling, too, shyly, her eyes as magnificent if not more than they always seemed to be.

This felt unrealistically nice. He'd been waiting for this chance, though he hadn't expected this positive reaction.

Not that he was complaining.

"I definitely feel better now," he murmured, pulling away more now, slowly, and their noses brushed and he straightened up. She bit her lip, looking nervous and embarrassed. Her lips- he'd just kissed her. Sparks were exploding in his chest.

Amy Cahill, the only girl in the world that had ever made him feel that way.

"I-I-Ian-" Amy stuttered, but she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence.

Jonah Wizard walked right up, the usual swagger in his step, and the usual grin on his face. Ian didn't think he'd seen them kiss- the idiot teen star probably would have been standing there ogling if he had. No, Jonah stood confidently, arms crossed over his chest. His posture and his smile and his overall being screamed "Winner".

Oh, yeah. Ian had lost the contest.

"What do you want?" Ian snapped, incredibly annoyed that Jonah was intruding upon a moment he'd been waiting such a long time for, and he and Amy fell away from each other even more. Jonah's smile grew wider.

"I won!" He announced, spreading his arms out. He laughed in confidence. "I told you, man. I told you that you couldn't beat me." Jonah nodded along with his own words.

"Yes, yes, very nice," Ian said, snapping again in his irritation. "You won. Now if you would be so kind as to leave...? I was in the middle of something." Ian said. He snorted, his eyes still narrowed. "Congrats on your win." He turned back to Amy, his eyes scanning over her. But Ian was annoyed to know that Jonah hadn't left. Amy's face was even pinker now, and Ian shot Jonah a look. "What?" He demanded.

Jonah frowned. "But... You lost. Aren't you mad, bro?"

Ian confidently laced his fingers through Amy's. She looked like she was so embarrassed she would die, but she didn't push him away, either- which made Ian grin hugely. "I'm not your bro, Jonah, and on the contrary-" Ian said to superstar, though his eyes never left their place of Amy, "-I think I've won."

And then, as confidently as he had laced his fingers through Amy's only a moment before, Ian began walking away from Jonah Wizard, swinging his arm and Amy's, and his final thought on the subject really was:

I win.

_A/N_

_Lol, I hope you liked it. Give a huge round of applause to the contest entrants, as well- great job, guys!_

_And please review! ;)_

_~Lovely_


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